Watch our video for Surfing with Santa here!
On Monday the 19th of November we invited 8 children from the Panti Asuhan Tunas Bangsa Denpasar orphanage, for our annual CSR event: Surfing with Santa. In this special time of year, Odysseys Surf School feels the need to do something for those who are less fortunate.
We started the day early. We picked the children up from the orphanage in Denpasar around 7:30 AM. After a little bit more then half an hour, the kids arrived at Odysseys Surf School. As soon as they arrived, they changed into their swimming wear and we provided them with Odysseys Surf School rash guards to protect them from the sun and from rashes from the board.
After they changed, it was time for our first activity: a safety briefing from the Kuta Beach lifeguards. We headed towards the lifeguard post to receive the briefing of one of the lifeguard officers. The officer gave the children a lesson in beach safety, what to be careful of when near the ocean, tide and current conditions, number of lifeguards posts around Bali and much more fun and important information.
During the walk back to the Odysseys Surf School parasols, which are located on the beach just in front of our office, we commenced a beach clean up. The carried a big plastic bag and they collected all the trash and rubbish they could find, and stashed it away in the bag.
As soon as they arrived at our parasols, our staff collected the plastic bags filled with trash and the children got a well-deserved break.
After the break it was time for our next activity: drawing on surfboards. We provided the kids with markers and two surfboards. We divided the group of 8 into two smaller groups, and we told them to decorate the surfboards with drawings. They were allowed to draw anything surf, beach, new year or Christmas related. Within no time the boards were filled with warm Christmas wishes, palm trees, Christmas trees and many more fun drawing. The children definitely turned the boards into pieces of art! The surfboards will be displayed at our office until the beginning of January.
After the drawing session it was time for our main event: Surfing with Santa. Two of our instructors were dressed up with a full Santa Claus costume, the other staff all wore Christmas hats or something else Christmas related. We started off with a briefing about safety in the water while surfing, how to hold your board in the water and of course: how to surf!
When we finished with the briefing it was time to do what we all had been waiting for: surf with Santa! The children had an absolute blast, and so did our instructors. We surfed for around an hour and a half, with a small 10-minute break included. Then it was time to head back to the office, for there was one more big surprise waiting for the children.
After the children changed back into their normal clothing, it was time to get some lunch, and nowhere other than the famous Hard Rock Caf on Jalan Pantai Kuta. The Hard Rock Caf was kind enough to provide a lunch for the children and the staff from Odysseys Surf School who helped the children throughout the day.
When the kids were done eating it was time to head back to the office of Odysseys Surf School. We provided the kids with a goodie bag and we took a few last fun group pictures. After these last few moments it was time to bring the children back to Denpasar.
We, the staff from Odysseys Surf School, had an absolute blast celebrating Christmas in such a special way, with such amazing children. We cant wait for our next annual Surfing with Santa event!
We’d like to give specially thanks to our sponsors,
Panti Asuhan Tunas Bangsa Denpasar
Mr. Made Pronto
Lifeguard Balawista Kuta
Hard Rock Cafe Baliwww.hardrock.com/bali
Yasnyiar Bonne Gea
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